[ Inside Automotive ]

Electric vehicles, self-driving automobiles, smart cars and the world of 21st century transportation

1. Apple has signed a deal with Volkswagen to collaborate on self-driving shuttles. ...

1. Apple has signed a deal with Volkswagen to collaborate on self-driving shuttles. The tech giant will use VW’s T6 Transporter electric vans as self-driving shuttles for Apple employees. The New York Times’ report details that Apple originally wanted a collaboration with BMW or Mercedes-Benz, but both companies had trouble agreeing with Apple over customer experience and data. Apple also spoke with Chinese automaker BYD Auto, Nissan and McLaren, but ultimately found a willing partner in Volkswagen, who is looking to refresh its image after “Dieselgate.” The vehicles will initially transport employees between two of Apple’s campuses in Silicon Valley and will include a backup driver to take control if need be. There will also be an operator in the passenger’s seat tracking the van’s performance. The frame, wheels and chassis of the T6 vans will remain, but Apple is planning to replace many components, including the dashboard and seats, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple did not respond to comment from the New York Times. It is not clear whether this indicates a larger deal with Volkswagen. — NYT

2. Tesla CEO Elon Musk blasted media covering the automaker on Twitter. “The holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies who lay claim to the truth, but publish only enough to sugarcoat the lie, is why the public no longer respects them,” he wrote on Twitter. Musk followed up with a series of tweets, a few explaining that the public doesn’t trust media outlets because of “click-bait,” driven by interest to generate ad dollars. Musk announced his plan to create a website where the public can rate the “core truth” of any article and track the credibility score over time of journalists, editors and publications. — USA TODAY

3. Tesla is accused of failing to report employee injuries. The Center for Investigative Reporting found that Tesla added more names to its list of injured employees after an initial report from CIR raised questions on whether the company was counting all its workplace injuries. CIR gave the example of Alaa Alkhafagi, who smashed his face and arm in the paint department last fall. Tesla did not place Alkhafagi on the injury log, initially, although he did take time off of work to recover from the incident. Tesla has touted it has “the safest car factory in the world.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk has disputed CIR’s reporting. — REVEAL

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1. Uber is folding self-driving vehicle testing in Arizona. The company said it would resume testing this summer in Pittsburgh, but did not specify a date. Uber remains barred from testing vehicles in Arizona, after an Uber self-driving vehicle was involved in a deadly crash. Though the incident is still undergoing investigation, Uber determined it is safer to test in cities where it also has engineering outposts. Uber had moved its self-driving tests to Arizona from California in 2016, after the California DMV revoked the registration of 16 Uber cars. — AXIOS

2. Snap’s VP of monetization engineering is leaving the company for Tesla. ...

2. Snap’s VP of monetization engineering is leaving the company for Tesla. Stuart Bowers, who joined Snap in 2015 from Facebook, led the social network’s engineering efforts around monetization, overseeing about 100 employees. “He [Bowers] has long had a dream to pursue his passion for robotics and we wish him the best,” a Snap spokesperson told Cheddar. Bowers will become Tesla’s VP of engineering and work on a variety of initiatives, including Autopilot. Tesla’s former Autopilot head, Jim Keller, left Tesla for Intel earlier this year. Nima Khajehnouri will serve as acting lead for the monetization engineering department, reporting to Snap’s senior VP of engineering Jerry Hunter. — CHEDDAR

3. Tesla Model 3 outsold the BMW 3-Series and the Mercedes C-Class during Q1 in California. According to the California New Car Dealers Association, 3,723 Model 3s were registered in the state between January and March. This is compared to 3,323 Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles and 3,260 BMW 3-Series sedans. The jump has made Tesla one of the largest growing automakers in the state, at 58.6 percent delivery growth in Q1. This is a significant milestone for Tesla, considering other automakers have experienced significant declines in the state. Hyundai experienced a 29 percent decrease in deliveries, while Mercedes-Benz declined 16.7 percent. — ELECTREK

4. Uber turned a profit in Q1 of 2018. The ride-hailing company turned $2.5 billion in profit on $2.6 billion in revenue in the quarter, up from $2.4 billion in revenue in the last quarter of 2017. However, Uber’s profit was likely generated from $2.9 billion the company gained after it merged its businesses in Russia and Southeast Asia with local competitors. Without that support, Uber would have likely posted a loss, but would have been significantly lower than previous quarters. Uber has slowed down spending on subsidizing rides and driver incentives, as bookings have stabilized. — RECODE

5. Uber employees will have another opportunity to sell shares. The company, which is planning an IPO for 2019, is launching another “tender offer,” which will allow employees and investors to sell around $500 million of holdings to a group of financial players, including Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital and TPG. Between $400 million and $600 million of the stock will be sold at a $62 billion valuation, which is a share price of $40. — RECODE

6. Pittsburgh’s mayor is concerned about Uber’s intentions to revive self-driving tests in the city. ...

6. Pittsburgh’s mayor is concerned about Uber’s intentions to revive self-driving tests in the city. Following an announcement that Uber would be pulling its self-driving tests out of Arizona, the company said it would refocus its efforts in cities where it currently has engineering talent, like Pittsburgh. In response, the city’s mayor, William Peduto, said he hadn’t agreed to allow the company to resume operations. In addition, Peduto said the company never informed him that it planned to bring back self-driving cars onto the city’s streets. Uber responded by saying it contacted the city and had an in-person meeting about its self-driving tests. — GIZMODO

7. The NTSB released its preliminary report on Uber’s fatal self-driving crash....

7. The NTSB released its preliminary report on Uber’s fatal self-driving crash. The NTSB provides no analysis on the crash and does not assign any blame for the accident. Much of the findings of the report have been previously reported by media outlets. The agency says its final report will likely drop in 2019. — THE VERGE

8. China is borrowing policies from California to expand EV adoption in the country. Among the efforts include subsidies for EV buyers and working with automakers to increase production of the vehicles. — QZ

9. Toyota is ramping up hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle sales around 2020. The automaker said it has plans to build a facility to mass manufacture hydrogen fuel cell stacks for vehicles. — REUTERS

10. Uber is opening an advanced technology center in Paris focused on “flying cars.” The center will support the company’s Elevate project and will spend $23.4 million over five years to engineer backend technology. — THE VERGE

4. Tesla is cutting prices in China. After a planned reduction in import tariffs in July, the automaker announced on its Weibo account that it would be slashing prices about six percent for customers in the country. As a result, the price of the most expensive Model X in China will drop from $219,000 to $204,000. The lowest priced Model S will drop from $118,800 to $111,200. The new prices are already in effect for customers. — CNN

5. Americans are prioritizing phone loan payments over car loans. According to TransUnion data obtained by Bloomberg, auto loan and credit card delinquencies have risen over the past five years. Meanwhile, unsecured personal loans, much like the ones offered by carriers for mobile phone installment plans, have seen a 16.2 percent decrease in delinquencies. “Surveys are showing that the cell phone payment is a high priority for the consumer, and from that perspective we think that fundamentally they are pretty sound,” said Clayton Triick, a portfolio manager at Angel Oak Capital Advisors. — BLOOMBERG

6. Lyft will invest $100 million in driver support centers. The centers will provide Lyft drivers with low-cost oil changes, car washes and basic vehicle maintenance, as well as access to rest areas, refreshments and restrooms. The move is intended to lower costs for the ride-hailing company’s drivers, as most of these expenses are shouldered by drivers. The company currently has “driver hubs” across the country and will expand hours at existing support locations. — THE VERGE

7. The Atlantic looks into the competitive world of electric scooter chargers...

7. The Atlantic looks into the competitive world of electric scooter chargers. “Charging in some cities, like San Diego, has become a cutthroat competition between workers where every last dollar counts,” writes @TaylorLorenz. — THE ATLANTIC

8. Oil giant BP is investing $20 million in fast-charging electric car batteries. The company’s venture arm is investing in StoreDot, which is developing a quick-charging battery that can recharge an electric car in five minutes. — CNBC

10. A group of kids were caught on dash cam, jumping and damaging a brightly painted Miata. You can watch the video here. — REDDIT

1. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker needs to sell more high-priced Model 3s, so the company doesn’t “die.”...

1. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker needs to sell more high-priced Model 3s, so the company doesn’t “die.” In a tweet, Musk responded to a customer asking for a status update on standard battery Model 3s, which are set to retail at $35,000. “With production, [first] you need [to] achieve target rate [and] then smooth out flow to achieve target cost. Shipping min[imum] cost Model 3 right away [would] cause Tesla to lose money [and] die. Need 3 to 6 months after 5k/[week] to ship $35k Tesla & live.” This comes as Tesla announced it would begin deliveries of a performance Model 3 vehicle with a $78,000 price tag. Tesla is currently losing money on each Model 3 it ships, despite targeting a 25 percent profit margin on the car. Tesla is pushing higher end models, as they create more profit and revenue for the company. This profit and revenue would continue to fund the company’s operations. — THE VERGE

2. Lyft is exploring a launch of a scooter sharing service in San Francisco. ...

2. Lyft is exploring a launch of a scooter sharing service in San Francisco. The ride-hailing company, through a consulting firm, has discussed applying for a permit to operate a scooter sharing service in the city. Lyft is developing prototypes of the scooter, indicating that the design of the scooter would be created internally. San Francisco plans to release applications for potential scooter sharing services in the city this week. This would follow Uber’s recent acquisition of JUMP Bikes. — THE INFORMATION (Paywall)

3. Consumer Reports does not recommend the Tesla Model 3. The publication, considered influential for consumers when making car buying decisions, says that while the car is fun to drive, the vehicle has difficult controls and weak brakes. The publication specifically commended the vehicle’s acceleration, handling and driving and said it's a strong competitor to cars like the Audi A4 and BMW 3-series. But in emergency braking tests, the car took 152 feet to come to a stop from 60 mph. By comparison, that’s seven feet more than a Ford F-150 needed and about 20 feet longer than the average for other similar cars. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the report by saying that the company will improve the vehicle’s braking via a software update. — CNN

4. China has cut its import duty to 15 percent. In a statement, China’s Ministry of Finance will cut import tariffs for most vehicles from 25 percent to 15 percent, in an effort to open the country’s markets and spur development of the local auto sector. Import tariffs for auto parts will be cut to 6 percent from around 10 percent. A small number of imported trucks will be taxed at 20 percent. Analysts expect this duty cut to particularly help foreign luxury automakers, like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, close a price gap with local automakers. The changes will be effective July 1. This move comes as President Trump called off imposing heavier tariffs on China. — AUTO NEWS

5. Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua thinks Tesla and NIO are accepting higher risks to lower its autonomy costs. "Companies like Tesla or NIO. They skip the use of a Tier 1 [supplier]. They become their own Tier 1. I think this is something that is possible to do when you have small scale...That allows them to move faster,” Shashua told CNET. Tier 1 suppliers often furnish complex components, like entire engines, transmissions or in this case, entire autonomous driving systems within the vehicle. "With Tesla, the first Autopilot was introduced in November 2014. It took about a year of development. With regular OEMs, it took closer to three years. That there are less players in the loop, in the chain, accelerates things,” he told CNET.” Shashua thinks that this does allow automakers to move faster, but makes them averse to more risk. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been averse to using LiDAR in its vehicles — CNET

6. 53 percent of Americans believe self-driving cars will become common within the next 10 years. ...

6. 53 percent of Americans believe self-driving cars will become common within the next 10 years. According to a new Gallup poll, a slim majority of Americans believe autonomous vehicles will become commonplace in the country within the next 10 years, with 19 percent believing self-driving cars will become common within 5 years. Some are more apprehensive than that, with 28 percent believing the technology won’t be ready for 11 to 20 years, with 15 percent saying it would take longer than that. Other surveys have suggested Americans have an overall apprehensive sentiment when it comes to self-driving vehicles. — GALLUP